The wheels drove along the Empire's stone pavement, making Ian's familiar sound. He couldn't help but lift the curtain a little and glance at the street. Although it was late at night, although it was still on the border, this was an empire after all, and Ian recognized at a glance the shadowy shapes of buildings near and far, all of which were standard empire-style sloping roofs. There were no towering, tower-like taverns, no shops embedded in the hill walls leading to the upper streets, and no stone-built inns. There are only two- and three-story buildings made of pine and oak, scattered across the blocks cut by the walls of the city.

It's also magical, but after crossing the border of forests, cliffs, and mountain walls, why doesn't even the air smell different? Ian was in the wind at the moment, smelling the moist smell that he hadn't seen for a long time. With the darkness of the night, there was even a mist in the city. Immediately, he lowered the curtain and sat back down.

Although the empire is his hometown, it seems that there are no more people he knows and cherishes living here. This time he didn't come back to relieve his homesickness, he said to himself secretly. Then he remembered Elise and Granny Sumu, ah, and the witch of the Glazed Woods.

Elise and Granny Sumu must have arrived in Oasis Town safely, recuperating in the Golden Tail Chamber of Commerce, and will also enjoy the food prepared for them by Maggie to ward off the fatigue of the journey. They have nothing to worry about anymore. By the way, is the witch still in the Empire? If there's anything else here that worries him, I'm afraid it's the witch. But her psychic powers are strong enough to protect herself......

The horse snorted and the car stopped, waking Ian up. Only then did he realize that he had accidentally fallen asleep.

"Here we are. Sid whispered in front of him, knocking on the door panel to alert the people in the carriage.

Several people jumped quietly from the carriage, and in front of them was not a tavern, but a nondescript hut that looked like a dilapidated dwelling.

Giggs unloaded the horses and put them in the side stables, and knocked on the door of the hut with them.

After a long time, an impatient voice shouted inside: "Who?"

"The Golden-Tailed Merchant. Giggs whispered through the crack in the door.

The door creaked open, but the owner had turned and went back.

Giggs cautiously pushed the door open and went in to find the owner pulling some cold cheese and dry bread out of a dirty cupboard.

"Four?" he asked, "I received news that you would be here today, but I didn't expect it to be midnight - it's already tomorrow!"

The short owner looked bloated and scruffy, and his loose hair seemed to have not been cut in a long time, curled up and drooping over his head. The beard is also shaved haphazardly, and the nose is red, like a drunk drunkard. His eyes were bloodshot, but although he didn't sound angry, he was very neat at preparing food and drink for them.

"I'm sorry. Giggs answered, observing the safe house that the caravan had introduced him. The houses were low, dimly lit, and oppressive, compared to the spacious, even lonely-speaking quarters of the Commonwealth.

"There are only two rooms, divide them among yourselves, just those two rooms. The owner put down his plate and pouted at the two broken wooden doors beside him, and then went back to the bed in the corner and lay down.

Jinx had been frowning from the moment she walked in. Although Giggs had greeted everyone before departure, given the danger of Ian and Sid's commission and their sensitive identities, they would not stay at a hotel when they arrived in Oakshield City, but chose the safe house introduced by the caravan. This would not only avoid people's eyes, but also prevent the army from raiding the hotel. But the safe house was more than she could have imagined, and she even felt like she saw the owner's fingers leave black marks on the plates......

"We ...... Can't you stay in a hotel?" she whispered to Giggs, "I'm not being targeted by you." ”

Giggs glanced at her: "When you encounter an interrogation, ask where your maid has gone, can you tell me?

"Okay. Jinx sighed, didn't eat what was on the table, and pushed the door straight into one of the rooms.

When he turned around, Sid and Ian were already standing at the table, eating by the dim oil lamp.

No sooner had Giggs picked up a piece of bread and shoved it into his mouth than Jinx came out of the room again.

Now her brows are no longer tightly locked, but her eyes are like silk, and there is a smile on the corner of her mouth. Fluttering on Sid's shoulder, she said, "Sid, there are two beds in each room, where are you sleeping tonight?"

"Sleep in the room next to you. Sid didn't blink, but quickly replied, "Let Giggs stay with you." ”

Giggs was trying to chew on the dry, hard piece of bread when he heard Sid say this, and almost choked himself to death. After a violent cough, his face turned red, and he poured a few mouthfuls of water to relieve himself. The homeowner rolled over in the corner in annoyance.

Giggs whispered, "Sid, don't mess with your bad ideas!" and go back to pinch her hand again...... I'm here for the two of you this time, and it's interesting enough for such a dangerous thing, isn't it?!"

"Yes, yes," Sid smirked, "I was wrong, I was wrong. ”

Ian shoved the cheese into his mouth, patted the crumbs off his hands, and got up and walked to the room next door to Jinx.

He felt three pairs of eyes staring at him.

Sure enough, before he reached the door, his shoulders were held down by two hands.

"Ian, I don't usually take on such dangerous commissions, are you sorry?" Giggs said behind him to the left.

"You've dragged me all the way into the water. Sid was behind his right, with food still in his mouth, and muttered.

Ian sighed, "Okay. He was about to turn around and go to Jinx's when he heard a thud, and something flew out of the room and fell heavily to the ground.

A few people looked at it, and it was a single bed in Jinx's room that flew out.

Sid, Ian, and Giggs hadn't come to their senses before there was another "bang", and Jinx's door slammed shut.

The three of them looked at each other, and they were very embarrassed for a while. In the end, Giggs was thick-skinned, he walked to the door of Jinx's room and knocked lightly: "Jinx? Then let's sleep!"

"Get out!" Jinx shouted angrily from inside the room.

"Okay, I'll get ......out of here," Giggs said curtly, and said to Ian and Sid, "you two sleep in that room, I'll sleep here." ”

The owner turned over in annoyance, and Ian and Sid stopped pushing back to the room.

In a small room, the door is facing a south-facing window, under which there is a bed on the left and right sides against the two walls. Ian walked over to the bed on the left side, looked at the dirty mattress, and felt like he could kick up a puff of dust when he sat on it. However, this is already aristocratic treatment compared to the journey he made when he fled from Black Eagle City.

He fell back on the bed, and Sid lay down and blew out the candle.

I've been on the road for a day, but I can't sleep at this time. Ian held his breath and noticed that Sid, who usually snored when he fell, was now very quiet.

"Sid......" Ian called him tentatively in a very low voice.

"Huh?"

"What do you think about Jinx...... Don't feel it at all?"

There was a turning sound from the bed opposite, and the plank bed creaked. Then he heard Sid sigh as if he were sighing.

There was silence for a long time, and a low voice came from there: "Children, don't ask about adults!"

Sid is always like this, Ian thought, relying on his age to get away with some questions that he doesn't want to answer.

The layout of their room is exactly the same as the Jinx room next door. Sid's bed was pressed against the partition wall between the two rooms, and Jinx was lying on her back on the other side. Her arm, which was so white that it was difficult to connect with her mercenary status, rested lightly on her forehead, covering her eyes.

The next morning, Giggs was woken up by a rough kick. When I opened my eyes, Jinx was standing on the edge of his bed with her waist crossed, one foot on the edge of his bed in leather boots.

"Get up, get up, eat something and set off. ”

As he spoke, he walked to the door of Sid and Ian's room, knocked lightly on the door with his finger bones, and said softly, "Sid, get up for breakfast!"

Giggs rubbed his head and sat up, cursing in a low voice, "Damn Jinx." But there was a sigh of relief—at least, the unpleasantness of last night seemed to be over, and Jinx didn't hold a grudge against them for their rudeness.

Although Giggs seems to be a prodigal and casual guy, he is actually very dedicated as a mercenary, and until last night before going to bed, he was secretly worried that Jinx would affect today's itinerary due to unpleasant emotions.

"Where's the owner?" asked Sid casually as he opened the door and walked in front of Ian.

"Got out early in the morning," Jinx handed Sid a glass of milk, "and he left it to eat, and then locked the door when we left." ”

"Strange guys. Sid took the milk and sat down on a stool with his legs stretched out.

A few people simply ate the meal left by the owner, and immediately set off for a designated place on the outskirts of the eastern part of the city.

Ian couldn't wait to change into her women's clothes and get back to her old appearance when she came back last night, but she was ordered to change back after breakfast today.

In front of a dilapidated dwelling, a man with strange tattoos hangs his horse and carriage together. An elderly mercenary with a fierce scar on his face helped a well-dressed girl into the carriage. Following the girl into the carriage was a waitress with a bitter face.

The four of them rode in a carriage and planned to leave through the East City Gate. But the closer you get to the gates, the more people gather. In the midst of the noisy flow of people, they feel a strange atmosphere.

As the carriage slowed down, someone approached and said, "How about going to Black Eagle City, do you want to go together?"

Ian and Jinx, who were sitting in the car, couldn't really hear it, but Sid and Giggs, who were driving the car, understood it in a few clicks.

These people who came to talk were small teams with fewer people and fewer mercenaries like them, and they were all looking for a team to set off together for some reason. Some people simply hold up a sign and write in lingua franca where they are going, and there are several people in total.

"What's going on?" Ian pulled open the small movable window in the car near the driver's position, and asked the two people in front of him.

"It seems that there are quite a few teams looking for people who are on the same road and setting off together. Sid turned his head into the carriage and said, his eyes always vigilantly watching.